A NORTH Wales schoolgirl died in a jet ski accident after "woefully inadequate" instructions on how to ride the powerful machine, an inquest heard yesterday.

Hannah Sutton, 16, was killed when her boyfriend James Dudley crashed into the back of her jet ski in Cyprus last summer.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, coroner John Pollard expressed his shock at how easily the "dangerous machines" could be hired with "totally unsatisfactory" instructions on how to ride them.

He vowed to write to the Foreign Office to urge the government to help avoid a repetition of the tragedy.

The accident happened on August 2 last year while Hannah was visiting her mum Lynn, who teaches at a British military base on Cyprus.

The sweethearts met while studying at Rydal Penrhos private school in Colwyn Bay. Hannah was a boarder and James a day pupil.

Yesterday James, now 17, from Victoria Park, Colwyn Bay broke down in tears as he recalled the tragedy.

He had travelled to Cyprus for a holiday with Hannah, from Alderley Edge in Cheshire. The teenagers decided to hire jet skis at the resort of Pissouri and went out on to the water.

Unknown to them, they were too young to ride the vessels and needed permits.

But the owners failed to check their age, gave them very brief instructions on what to do, and sent them into the sea, Stockport Coroner's Court was told.

While they were riding on the water, James lost control and his jet ski ran into the back of Hannah's. She was left with fatal injuries and later pronounced dead at Limassol General Hospital.

James was fined #2,008 at Limassol district court after he admitted causing his girlfriend's death.

He told the coroner the jet ski owners spent less than a minute giving him instructions before sending him into the water after Hannah.

He said: "We just rode about and went back along the bay, then we went back again.

"I was going towards her, we were really close, I was afraid of hitting her.

"I leaned over and turned around to try and avoid her. But then I hit her. I thought I'd just gone off the back of her jet ski but I landed the other side. I turned round and she was in the water, a couple of metres away from the jet ski.

"I was really confused. I jumped in the water and swam to her. I tried to lift her up but found she was not conscious.

"I yelled and screamed in the water while I was trying to swim her back to the jet ski, trying to get her back on, but the lifeguards came out."

James said he watched the lifeguards take Hannah back to the beach and try to resuscitate her.

Their efforts were in vain and Hannah was pronounced dead from brain damage later that day.

Hannah's dad Stephen Sutton, a watersports tutor and qualified diving instructor, said he had given his family advice about riding jet skis.

Mr Sutton, who described Hannah as an "intel-ligent, sensible, outgoing, gregarious, loving, caring young lady" said: "James was subject to certain proceedings in Cyprus as a result of the incident, but we do not blame him.

"They had a good relationship and we know he regrets the incident, which will live with him for the rest of his life."

The coroner's court also heard a statement from Hannah's mum, who was sitting on the beach when the accident took place.

She said: "I saw two lifeguards driving a jet ski, coming out of the sea carrying a girl in their hands...I saw the girl was Hannah. She had blood coming from her nose and ears. I called out to her but she didn't respond."

The coroner criticised the "woefully inadequate instructions" given to James and Hannah by the jet ski owners.

Mr Pollard said: "It does seem to me quite incredible that this type of machine can be hired out to anyone, let alone two youngsters, with what can only be described as a very, very brief, totally unsatisfactory level of instruction.

"These are very dangerous machines, more dangerous than motor bikes, which don't allow any tolerance in terms of mistakes being made."

He continued: "There was no evidence at all of anything that could possibly be described as gross negligence on James' part, with the way he drove the vehicle, bearing in mind the limited instructions he received."

"Hopefully they will be able to let the public know that jet skis are dangerous machines."